Thill-guard.



No. 847,302. PATBNTED MAR. 12, 1907.

' J. WRIGHT.

THILL GUARD.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, 1906.

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UNITE JOHN WRIGHT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO PETER S.VVASHEILOF.

STAT-ES rarer FFIQE.

LITOHFIELD, ILLINOIS. V

THlLL-GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 12, 1907.

T0 at whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WRIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful In1 provement in Thill-Guards, ofwhich the fol lowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of this invention is to provide a convenient and efiicientattachment for the ends of vehicle thills or shafts to prevent them fromdamaging blankets and also to prevent them from becoming entangled withthe reins or other portions of the harness and to otherwise preservethem from damage by or to the horse when hitched up and likewise damageby or to surrounding objects.

The invention consists of stiff spring-wire coils in helical formadapted to be frictionally engaged with the ends or tips of the shaftsor thills and to be coupled together in front of the horse, so as toconceal the ends or tips of the said thills or shafts, and to connectthem in such way that a blanket thrown over the horse cannot possibly beengaged with or torn by the thills and these thill ends or tips cannotdo damage to or be damaged by a horse hitched up between them or bedamaged by or do damage to surrounding obj ects, all as I will proceednow more particularly to set forth and finally claim.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarlydesignated, Figure 1 is a planview of portions of the thills or shafts of a vehicle, showing by fulllines my thill-guard in position when in use and showing saidthill-guard by dotted lines in position when not in use. Fig. 2 is aplan view of one of the pair of thill-guards, and Fig. 3 is a plan viewof the other of the pair of thill-guards.

The thills or shafts 1 may be of any usual construction.

My guard consists of two similar coils of heavy spring-wire 2 and 3,coiled in helical form, the guard 2 terminating in an eye 4, to which isattached a chain 5, having, preferably, a hook 6 at its end. The guard 3terminates in a hook 7.

The guards are used by turning them on the ends of the thills or shafts,the coils acting as a sort of screw-thread to advance them firmly uponthe thills, the flexibility of the coils increasing the tractive engageing ends of the coils are bent or flexed later-\ ally toward each other,as shown by full lines in Fig. 1, in front of the horse and connected inan adjustable way by engaging the chain 5 with the hook 7. Any link ofthe chain may be engaged with the hook 7, or, if necessary, the hook 6of the chain may be engaged with the hook 7 of guard 3.

By the construction described the ends of the thills or shafts arecompletely concealed and covered up, so as to be removed from liabilityto punch holes through or tear the blanket thrown over a horse.Furthermore, these guards prevent the reins or other parts of theharness from slipping down beneath and becoming entangled with the endsof the shafts or thills. Again, by protecting the ends of the shafts orthills with these guards, as described, such ends no longer become amenace to the animal hitched up between the shafts or thills or to otherand outside objects.

What I claim is 1. A thill-guard, comprising a pair of wire coilsadapted to be frictionally, engaged with the ends of the thills, andmeans to connect the ends of said coils in front of the thills.

2. A thill-guard, comprising a wire coil having a chain at one end, anda similar wire coil with a hook at one end, said coils adapted to beapplied to the ends of the thills and their chain and hook endsrespectively engaged in front of the thills.

3. A thill-guard, composed of a pair of spring-wire coils of helicalform, adapted to be engaged with the ends of vehicle s afts or thillsand to have their ends'co'nnected in front of the thills and across thefront of an animal hitched between said thills.

4. A thill-guard, composed of a pair of laterally-flexible coils ofwire, adapted to engage the ends of thills or shafts, and means toconnect their ends.

5. A thin-guard, composed of a pair of laterally-flexible coils of Wire,adapted to be 5 applied to the ends of thills or shafts, and ad justablemeans to connect the ends of the coils at pleasure.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day ofNovember, A. D.

JOHN WRIGHT. Witnesses:

PETER WASHER, A. EMRIOK.

